“You don’t normally wear hats, Em,” Eric commented as I met him outside the arcade. My cheeks flushed as I self-consciously pulled the beanie a little farther down my head to hide the bandage.

“Maybe I wanted to surprise you?” It didn’t throw him off the scent as I’d hoped, but he knew I wouldn’t admit what happened.

Eric took a deep breath and raised his eyebrows as we trudged down the street. “So...” He wasn’t going to make it easy for me.

“Who have you got for Registration this year?”

“Oh, Mr. Carter.”

“The Physics teacher?”

“That’s the one. The Bogeyman!” Eric swooped beside me and tried to dig his fingers into my sides.

I smiled as I dodged him and couldn’t help but give him a playful punch. “It wasn’t bad enough that you caught him digging for gold so now he has to put up with your face for the next year?”

Eric’s jaw dropped in mock disgust. “What’s wrong with my face?” His hands pawed at his perfectly chiselled jaw.

“Oh you know, you just have a little something,” I waved my hand in a circle in front of him, “right around here.”

“Your words cut me to the very core, Em.” A wry smile passed over his handsome face, and my stomach clenched in response.

“I’m sure you’ll survive. Maybe you and Mr. Carter could comfort each other?”

“Maybe you’re right. Maybe I’ll tell Mr. Carter about crying myself to sleep at night because you don’t like my face.”

“I didn’t say that.”

A wicked gleam leaped into his brown eyes, and a grin stretched at my cheeks. “So you like my face?”

“I didn’t say that, either.”